Florida Republican Congresswoman Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has introduced a bipartisan bill called the Stand With Israel Act, aiming to withhold taxpayer funding to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) until it passes a resolution condemning the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. Luna introduced the bill in response to Hamas’s deadly terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Luna’s bill has garnered support from several co-sponsors, including Democratic Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz and several Republican representatives from different states. The bill stipulates that the UNHRC must pass a resolution condemning Hamas, which has been responsible for numerous acts of violence against Israelis, before it can receive any U.S. funding.
In a press release, Luna stated that it should not be difficult for the UNHRC, an organization that claims to promote global human rights, to pass a resolution condemning one of the deadliest attacks against the Jewish people. Luna expressed the need for the UNHRC to unequivocally condemn Hamas’s disregard for human life and the terror inflicted on both Israelis and the innocent Palestinians used as human shields. She criticized the UNHRC for its focus on ideological bias rather than objective human rights.
The bill comes in the wake of controversy surrounding the UNHRC’s inability to condemn Hamas’s terrorist attacks. Luna and her co-sponsors argue that the UNHRC’s failure to do so is a disgrace to the international community and raises concerns about the organization’s purpose and credibility. They believe that no American taxpayer dollars should fund an organization that cannot uphold the principles of human rights it was created to protect.
Hamas is widely recognized as a terrorist organization by various countries, including the United States and Israel. The organization has been responsible for numerous attacks and acts of violence targeting Israeli civilians.
Luna’s bill follows calls for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to resign over a speech that some critics argue rationalized Hamas’s actions. In response, Guterres clarified his statement, emphasizing that he was not justifying acts of terror by Hamas and expressing his shock at the misrepresentations of his remarks.
The UNHRC has faced accusations of antisemitism in the past, with a history of resolutions that have targeted Israel and equated Zionism with racism in 1975, a resolution that was eventually overturned in 1991.
The Stand With Israel Act aims to hold the UNHRC accountable for its inability to condemn Hamas’s actions and ensure that it actively upholds the principles of human rights and international law.
NEW: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has just introduced a bill to DEFUND the UN until they adopt a clear resolution condemning Hamas.
Should the House GOP pass this bill? pic.twitter.com/2jFHIlT1fP
— TEAM USA 🇺🇸 (@__TEAM_USA) October 31, 2023
